STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2994

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 1876
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education and Technology, to which was
referred H.B. No. 1876 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE X,
     SECTION 2, OF THE HAWAII CONSTITUTION, TO CHANGE THE
     COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to amend the State
Constitution to add a nonvoting military-representative member to
the Board of Education.

     Testimony in support of the measure was received from
CINCPAC, Hawaii Business Roundtable, and two individuals.
Testimony in opposition to the measure was received from the
Board of Education.

     Your Committee finds that military service members and their
families constitute a large presence in Hawaii.  Because military
service members usually do not change their voter registration
each time they move, they are unable to vote in elections for
members of the Board of Education (BOE).  Consequently, military
service members have no way to voice their concerns and needs
regarding the public school education system in Hawaii.

     Your Committee agrees that adding a nonvoting member from
the armed forces to the BOE will improve the communication and
information flow between the public education system and military
service members and their families.

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2994
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     Your Committee amended the measure by requiring the governor
to select a member of the armed forces, from a list submitted by
the highest ranking senior officer of the armed forces in Hawaii,
to serve as a nonvoting member of the BOE.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Education and Technology that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of H.B. No. 1876, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1876,
S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Education and
                                   Technology,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

 
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